PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is working on a proposal to extend the Rescue-1122 service to the remaining 16 districts including the erstwhile Fata.

Sources told Dawn that relief, rehabilitation and settlement (RRS) department moved a summary to the chief secretary office and the extension plan, if approved, would cost the provincial kitty about Rs4.5 billion over a period of four years.

The Rescue-1122 was initially launched as pilot project back in 2010. The service has been extended to 10 districts including Peshawar, Mardan, Swat, Abbottabad, Dera Ismail Khan, Nowshera, Charsadda, Kohat, Haripur and Chitral.

In addition to this, setups in Karak and Hangu districts are in the commissioning stge.

Plan to cost Rs4.5 billion during the next four years

Details available with Dawn show that work on at least 24 rescue stations in Swabi, Lower and Upper Dir, Mansehra, Bannu, Kohat, Haripur, Chitral, Charsadda and Karak has already been approved as Annual Development Programme schemes.

The RRS department has now proposed the provincial government to extend the service to the remaining districts including the recently merged areas in a phased-wise manner over a period of four years. The plan is likely to cost the provincial government about Rs4.5 billion.

The department has proposed initiation of work on four stations in four districts including Shangla, Malakand, Khyber and Bajaur at a cost of Rs1.2 billion during the next financial year.

The department has proposed extension of the rescue service to Lakki Marwat, Buner, Orakzai and Kurram districts at a cost of Rs12 billion during 2020-21 and to Tank, Upper and Lower Kohistan and Mohmand during 2021-22 at a cost of Rs1.1 billion and to Torghar, Battagram, North and South Waziristan districts at a cost of Rs1 billion during 2022-23.

The document notes that despite financial and administrative challenges, Rescue-1122 has responded to more than 700,000 incidents including bomb blasts, fire and medical emergencies and building collapse since its launch.

It states that the remaining areas including the tribal districts and three districts craved out of Kohistan are the most peripheral ones with literally no emergency services despite being prone to accidents, emergencies and disasters.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2019